CVC Capital Partners eyeing €15bn float - report

Private equity firm CVC Capital Partners could launch a stock market flotation as early as next week, it emerged on Tuesday.

According to Sky News, executives at CVC Capital are considering unveiling plans for its third attempt to go public in the Netherlands within the next fortnight, even as fresh signs of market volatility cast doubt on the prospective timetable.

A flotation could value the firm at somewhere in the region of €15bn (£12.8bn), although the figure remains uncertain and subject to investor appetite.

People close to CVC's preparations told Sky that they remained subject to market conditions and that there was no fixed timetable to launch what would be one of the world's most closely watched initial public offerings of the year.

CVC, which owns a stake in Six Nations Rugby as well as the commercial rights to French and Spanish top-flight football, has been plotting a stock market listing for years.

Going public would provide the private equity group with an acquisition currency to expand and diversify its business in the same way that rivals such as publicly traded Blackstone and KKR have been able to do.

One insider told Sky that an announcement next week was "possible, although later in the month is more likely".

One source said CVC and its advisers would be ready to launch the buyout firm's IPO within 10 days but acknowledged that the prospect of a successful float was "on a knife-edge".

Since it aborted its most recent attempt to go public in early November, the share prices of publicly quoted rivals including Blackstone, EQT and KKR have risen sharply.

CVC, founded more than 40 years ago, is one of the buyout industry's best-known names. It has owned UK-based businesses including Formula One motor racing, Debenhams, the AA and Saga.

The firm's current portfolio includes extensive interests in rugby union, Lipton Teas - which it bought from Unilever - and Away Resorts.